I guess it’s inevitable and it’s not too slippery, really

It’s been bugging me for a long time, it being the hareidi anger over people taking responsibility for their own halakhic behavior, not staying passive and reactive at best. And there is definitely the other side of Modern Orthodoxy, or at least too many “practitioners” of MO, not taking halakhah seriously enough, getting stuck at the word “modern”, so in reality, not being practitioners on any practical level.

And those of us in between? So we’re trying to be responsible for our behavior, halakhic, ethical, social–you get the picture. So, yes, life is slippery! And if you want, you can take the easy way out, but don’t denigrate those who are seriously and honestly accepting responsibility for our tradition and our intellect. And, since we seem to have this propensity for self-revelation in front of the camera/online, coupled with the secrecy of anonymity of the internet, people spill more than they should in public and in a way that I would hope they wouldn’t do in person or even among peers.

So what is this fear of women? Fear of being bested by a girl? A little psychopop could take care of that.

But maybe that is all it is. Maybe it’s the fear of the other. Certainly there’s a lack of understanding of the sexes, and even though there is the notion that you (the addressed) shouldn’t talk to the woman אל תרבה שיחה עם האשה whoever that woman may be…

And we know the idea that kibbutzikim don’t intermarry because they’re all like brothers and sisters, and that’s pretty much a taboo, even in non-religious circles (I guess outside of Arkansas). So I think that dafka we should be increasing the non-flirting socializing of kids. Schools don’t seem to do it because the schools (or probably camps interjected into school settings) don’t break the stereotypes. We have to figure out a way for kids to understand the other.

Okay, you’re right. We have to start with adults. Or we have to start with babies. We just have to start. Men are not from Mars nor women from Venus; we just continue to allow them to think they are.